Friday, December 20, 2013

If you subscribe to our e-newsletter, than you recently learned that Ryder-Walker’s main headquarters is now energy independent. We're really proud of this, and we’re also the first hiking tour company that we know of to produce essentially 100% of our own power.

How It Works

Ryder-Walker recently purchased 16 solar panels through Clean Energy Collective’s community solar program. Our 16 panels are part of a much larger community solar array (‘solar farm’) that lies one and-a-half hours to the west of our office in the Paradox valley of southwestern Colorado. The array harnesses 300 average days of sunshine per year and is currently the largest in the region.

Unlike traditional offset programs, where companies purchase "credits" for renewable energy, we actually own our own photovoltaic (PV) panels, and we receive credits for the energy produced. The credits appear on our power bill and reduce the amount that we pay each month.

Analyzing our annual power consumption, we discovered that we need just over 15 panels to supply the electricty needs of the Ryder-Walker main office. The fact that we own 16 panels, means that we actually produce more power than we consume. That said; we only recently hooked up to the system, so we’re just beginning to collect real-time data.

Fortunately, Clean Energy Collective makes it easy to analyze energy production data. We can log in to our Clean Energy Collective account to see real-time solar production and bill credit history.

Added Bonus

The purchase of our panels also includes 100 percent maintenance and operations for the next 50 years. We don’t have to climb rooftops, and we don’t have to scrape snow off the panels!

Mountain Village offered a per-panel discount for community and business members in an effort to encourage homeowners and businesses to purchase clean energy. We jumped at the chance, and we’re also proud to announce that Ryder-Walker is the first business in Mountain Village to take advantage of the Mountain Village Match Program and to support our community’s local solar energy initiative.

Tuesday, December 03, 2013

Last week we said goodbye to Nicole Nugent. This week we say hello to Terese Broderick! Terese is a Telluride native and has been working/training with us for about a month and-a-half. She is taking over Nicole’s position and will work hand-in-hand with Melanie Eggers, our managing director, wearing many hats and doing all the day-to-day stuff that needs to be done.

Terese speaks great German, she loves to travel, and she has a really sweet voice on the phone. If you get a chance, do call her. It will brighten your day. Please join us in welcoming Terese, our newest addition to the Ryder-Walker Team!

You can read more about Terese and other Ryder-Walker staff members at our staff page.

Celebrating 33 Years!

We are the Global Trekking Specialists. Founded in 1984, Ryder-Walker Alpine Adventures specializes in handcrafted hiking itineraries that explore the most stunning landscapes on the planet. From private and small group guided adventures, to fully custom self guided tours, we make it easy to realize the perfect adventure vacation. Visit ryderwalker.com and begin the journey of a lifetime!